Deaths of Paces & Kleins

[cherrybomb]

That bottom tube weld is inexcusable and the top tube junction ain't too pretty either and that is supposed to be a top draw (some would argue the best you can get) hand built aluminium frame.

Those smoothed joints on Klein frames have always worried me. They can hide all kinds of poor workmanship underneath, just like this. I'd rather be able to see a nicely executed fillet weld any day.

 

[scant]

seen that pic before & yes v.scary & devastating at the same time!
there seemed to be a plethora of pace frame in plymouth 92-96 & the vast majority broke. most impressive being the entire BB shell coming away from the frame & a seatpost splitting the back of a seatube. cant think of the owners name now, he was from guernsey. fluff will know.

carlo (later funk owner, which was nicked from leamington) bent a klein MC1, but that was more through stupidity

 

[24pouces]

Brrrrrrrrrrrr… :shock:

But, is there a lot of klein broken ?
I know, the problem for the first attitude about the seatpost clamp (the seat pos was too high), but nothing so imortant than yours…

 

[bikeperv]

I always wondered how you get the cables routed inside a Klein!

 

[tintin40]

Well they are made by human beings :roll: And maybe it was a Friday night and he was in a rush to go 'bird dogging' :shock: or some thing. Who checked it at the end of the line?
If it had been made in Taiwan by machine would it have been any different? Didn't you take it back and get a new one?

 

[Jones]

I bet if you cut most frames open you'd find a very high percentage show no penetration whatsoever :?

Their just not welded in a way thats going to give you good penetration :shock: most frame welds I've looked at are single pass welds made with more emphasis on looking pretty than anything else :roll:

You try getting good penetration in one pass and make the weld sit as proud from the tube as it does on 99.9% of Aluminium frames :shock: the weld just doesn't look like that if your aiming to get decent penetration

 

[cherrybomb]

Well they are made by human beings :roll: And maybe it was a Friday night and he was in a rush to go 'bird dogging' :shock: or some thing. Who checked it at the end of the line?
If it had been made in Taiwan by machine would it have been any different? Didn't you take it back and get a new one?

No. Sorry I don't buy into that argument.

Any half decent welder would have known that fillet wasn't penetrating properly. There's no excuse for a job that bad. If he was having an off day, or desperate to go out on the pull, he should have left that job 'til Monday. That's just p!ss poor workmanship.

This is a Klein frame, the ones that so many people are very quick to say are the best in the world, and must be better than a Far Eastern job 'cos they're hand made in America.

There's a good reason GM and Ford are on there knees......they're hand made in America.

Toyota's ain't

And before anyone thinks this is a dig at the USA, it isn't. UK manufacturing is no better from my experience, and as already mentioned, Pace had 'issues' over build quality too.

 

[Jones]

Your assuming their quality welders though :? their bicycle frame welders at the end of the day :shock:

Apart from the places that have taken on ex aerospace welders specifically to work on titanium they'd be called semi skilled if they wanted to work in any other industry :?

 

[cherrybomb]

That's a scary thought. :shock:

Maybe I'm spoiled, I'm used to using Lloyds Certified guys who actually know what they're doing.

 

[Jones]

That's a scary thought. :shock:

Maybe I'm spoiled, I'm used to using Lloyds Certified guys who actually know what they're doing.

Thats what I was like I'm a welder mostly in the petrochemical/Nuclear industry with a bit of motor racing now and again and I assumed the bike industry would have some of the same levels of testing :?

But from what I've seen its almost non existant :shock: